7 guiding principles of my life

As one might ask, what is the meaning of life? Life has no meaning at the start, you create meaning to life! I have always believed that in life, you will need a set of guiding principles to shed light of where you want to go and what you want to achieve. These guiding principles set the foundation and ground of the basis of who you will become as a person. Everyone will be guided by different principles. Some are guided by a higher cause, to do good without expecting any substantial rewards. But some are guided by monetary achievement and having a huge net worth, living in big house, and driving fast cars are the essence of what they live for. But know that usually your definition of success is derived from the principle that guide you in your life.

But note that the guiding principles of life changes for everyone at different stage of their life. Being a ‘newly mint’ Father of a young boy, I’ve tried to assess and understand what my guiding principles will are moving forward in the next 10, 20, 30 years or more.

Here are 7 principles that will guide me to have a purposeful life.

1) Family

Coming from a small, humbled background, I remembered the days when I had to share a room with my parents as we’re living in a small apartment. Since young, I am fortunate to be in a closely knitted family and this inculcate the value of family importance in me. Family is gonna be on the top of my list when it comes to consideration of decision to make in life. Being able to provide an adequate lifestyle to my loved ones is also an important aspect. I am thankful to be in a decently well-paying career. There are a lot of times that I do wonder if I should step out of my comfort zone, but a reality check made it so difficult for me to do so. That is why the only other way out is to continue to hustle on and try my best in the little things that I do!

2) Friends

Friends, the other thing that I cannot do without in life. I may not be the most dependable friend out there, I admit, but I hope that my friends realise that each and every one of them had made me of who I am today. Definitely, there are different categories of friends, some good and some bad, but bear in mind that each of them has a parting lesson for you, regardless of who you are.

3) Faith

Faith can be a good yet dangerously thing. Blind faith caused extremist thinking and lead to very bad outcomes. Yet, in one’s darkest times, the one thing that maintain a person’s sanity and support to pull through is through one person’s belief. You need not be a Christian nor Buddhist. It is not about religious faith; it is about faith within you. It is about believing what you can achieve and what not. You must have faith and believe in yourself before you can achieve anything. And as Iris West says to Barry Allen (The Flash), “Barry, I believe in you” and the flash can run faster than he ever thought he could!

4) Morale

Maintaining a good morale is important, yet it is one of the hardest things to do in life. Ever had a bad day hitting you and you felt like you will never come back up again? My life was adequately blessed but that does not mean that I had never suffered setbacks. There were many nights in my life where I cannot fall asleep in peace. And if I knew a decision is gonna set my morale low, I know I need to make another decision to make a change, a good change.

5) Humor

Never forget to add a little humour in your life. Good ones. Sometimes, looking at things with a lighter view envision you with a whole new perspective in life. And as the Joker says, “why so serious?”

6) Growth

I am a staunch believer that everything that I encounter, everything that I do, has a lesson instilled for me. Be it a new job position, be it a new book I read or be it new people that I encountered, there are always room for me to learn and grow to be a better person. As Team Body project’s motto goes, “progress, not perfection”. We cannot be the perfect person that we want to be, but as long as we grow and become better, that’s what matters.

7) Self

End of the day, no matter what you do or what you decide on, don’t forget that your life is simply, yours! Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for your family and friends but don’t forget to exercise some self-love. Loving yourself and treating yourself with respect is the utmost important thing to do in your life. I mean like, hey, we all have at best 80 to 90 years on Earth and time passes by in a flash! If you don’t make considerations about yourself, almost no one else will. I’m not asking you to be selfish and everything is about me, me, and me. However, putting yourself into consideration in the decisions you want to make can be such an important aspect where a lot of people have forgotten that they are unique and important in their own ways.

That is it, these 7 factors are what I considered when I want to make a decision. Be it to stay on in my current job, the house that I want to buy, how I spend my money, etc. etc. I hope that these points can help you make a more informed decision and do better each and every day.

Be a better man!

Leody